Vehicle tie rod assemblies may consist of a tapped tube having left and right ends. A left hand socket is threaded upon the left end of the tapped tube while a right hand socket is threaded upon the right end of the tapped tube. Often the sockets are off-set from a main axis of the tapped tube, causing an out of balance condition.
Conventional methods of assembling a tie rod assembly result in many problems. For example, one method of assembly involves clamping the tube in a location and using impact guns mounted on guide rails to spin the sockets into threaded engagement with the tube. Because the sockets may be off-set and out-of-balance, and because the impact gun provides a sharp force, the sockets tend to bind within the tube, resulting in a rejected part since it exceeds the acceptable assembly tolerances. Another method of assembling right and left hand sockets to a tapped tube includes first threading one socket into one end of the tube and then threading a second socket into a second end of the tube. This latter method is both time consuming and labor intensive and may not result in equal torque being applied to each socket.